Things that might help improve a Lync
 experience for our clientele in the future

Compiled by Kevin Lyon and edited by Gary Palmer

11/30/11 

1.      Presenters need to be prepped for accommodating a remote audience, if they are not familiar with Lync. When someone in the audience asks a question at the site of the broadcast, the folks in the remote locations can’t hear it. The presenter needs to repeat the question, a facilitator needs to repeat it, or the client needs to raise their hand and wait until someone gets them on a mic before they begin speaking.

2.      Presenters trying to engage the audience by asking questions are not effective accept at the live site for the same reason – remote sites can’t hear the audience when they respond.

3.      Back and forth conversations between presenters and members of the live audience are useless for the remote sites unless the audience member is on a mic.

4.      When a presenter uses a hand held laser at the live site, no one at the remote site can see what is being referenced. Using tools incorporated in Lync would allow all viewers to see what is being emphasized.

5.      When using a clip on mic, often the audio will rise and fall as the presenter turns their head. A handheld mic or good lavaliere mic should be better.

6.      To stay on time and as a professional courtesy, reserve the final five minutes of a presenters time for questions instead of running over into the next presenters block of time.

7.      Last minute schedule changes should be avoided as a courtesy to clients. In one case, farmers arriving after their chores thought they had missed the first presenter and were a little perturbed when they realized they had missed a presentation they wanted to see. They pointed out that this was not the schedule published in the local newspaper. Not everyone will stay for the entire meeting and may only come for the portion that they can accommodate.

8.      All the presenters should provide their power points at least one day ahead of time. Doing so would provide a backup in case the Lync connection was lost. This has happened and the remote audience was still able to see the slides until the Lync connection was restored. The one day advance notice also allows power points to be printed ahead of time instead of scrambling to print them before or even after the meeting starts as presenters arrive with their power points in hand.

9.      Remote audiences may want to close the video of the presenter and show the power point slides full screen. This can make the charts easier to see and understand. Participants might rather see the slides than the presenter.  One farmer went as far as saying that he felt more comfortable asking the speaker a question because he was NOT in the room.  It may have removed any embarrassment he might have had and might allow the participant to focus more on the slides and info being presented.  There have been cases where audiences wanted to see the speaker. (with contributions from Gregg Drake)